In a ranking of the nation’s most active top construction markets by Forbes, Houston landed in third place, trailing only New York and Dallas.Through May, the Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land metropolitan statistical area registered $4.8 billion in construction starts, a 23 percent increase since 2011.

McGraw-Hill Construction created the list by analyzing building data for the nation’s metropolitan statistical areas and identifying the 20 markets that have recorded the biggest investment in new construction this year.

Metropolitan New York City topped the list with $8.5 billion worth of construction starts, followed by Dallas with $5.2 billion. In fourth place was Washington, D.C., with $4.6 billion in starts.

Topping the list of Houston-area projects to break ground during early 2013 are the $72 million MD Anderson Pavilion and the $45 million Hanover Post Oak multi-family high-rise. Those projects are also characteristic of the healthcare and multi-family sectors that are driving much of the development in Houston. By contrast, development in second-place Dallas tends to focus on business operations and infrastructure.

A leading indicator of economic activity, construction starts consist of the full value of single-family home construction, multi-family, office, retail space, warehouses, healthcare facilities, educational buildings, manufacturing plants and research facilities. Land values and land acquisition costs are not included.

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